


The Eagle and the Lion

by Cyan (vehicroids)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Mentions of psychosis, Perhaps a little gory, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vehicroids/pseuds/Cyan
Summary: After losing everything, Dimitri is ready to face Edelgard - it's time to put an end to this war.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 17
Kudos: 56





	The Eagle and the Lion

Dimitri was never good at dancing.

Even as a child, he lacked coordination. Edelgard would lead the dance, and she would chastise him when he got a step wrong, but he tried so hard. He tried, because whenever he got a step right, she would smile at him, and that smile could light up the universe. That smile fuelled him once, made him want to be a better person. He would do anything to see that smile again.

_ Oh, how long had it been since you've smiled, El? _

Dimitri scoffs. There is no El.

This dance is the same as when they were children, though this time, it's for so much more. Edelgard leads, and she's still chastising his missteps. This time, however, she doesn't smile when he gets it right - her face remains frozen into a frown. Does she feel anything at all? Dimitri doesn't know. She didn't react when her generals fell beside her. She didn't react when Dimitri finished off the professor. She didn't react at all. Were they just a number to her? Was there truly no warmth left in her?

Even stripped of her closest confidants, Edelgard stands as tall and proud as ever. Her violet eyes are burning with determination as they always did. He knows that look far too well: it's the same look she had when she stuck her axe into Dedue's back. So this time, she intends to kill Dimitri - she's welcome to try. 

He won't let her win. He's far better at this dance than he was before, and he's not afraid of Edelgard. Dimitri isn't alone, either. He's got his friends and family standing with him, their voices a rising crescendo. They're calling for her head, and Dimitri will listen to their calls. They're with him now, always with him, and he will find their peace. Even if he has to carve it out of Edelgard himself.

There is no offer to put down his spear and join her, not this time; his chance to quit was a long time ago. Even if Edelgard asked, Dimitri isn't quitting now. He can't, and he won't.

"It didn't have to end this way, Dimitri," Edelgard says.

There's remorse in her voice, but Dimitri doesn't buy it. There's no feeling left in her, he's certain. She's a monster, a heretic, and it's Dimitri's job to take care of her. He grips his spear tighter. He has nothing left to say to her, and there is nothing she can say to make this any better.

He thrusts his spear at her, only for her to dodge his attack. Edelgard swings her axe, and Dimitri brings up his spear as a shield. He knocks her off balance and she trips over her own feet. Another swing, and she's on the floor. Dimitri digs his boot into her chest and he hears her huff for breath. The end of his spear is positioned at her throat.

Edelgard laughs, her voice like the chime of a bell. Dimitri's hands shake, but he does not waver.

"You're getting really good at this."

He knows that voice. It's a voice he hasn't heard in over a decade, soft and warm. It leaves Dimitri cold inside. The girl under him is smiling now, her brown hair splayed out under her like a halo. The violet eyes are brimming with something else - joy. Dimitri gasps.

"El," he says.

There's so much he wants to say to El. She's reaching out for him, and suddenly, he's seven all over again. His heart hurts looking at her, and he's so nervous he might die. He wants to hold her hand and tell her all he never had the chance to before things went wrong. He wants to dance with her again like there's not a care in the world.

Then he sees the glimmer of an axe, aiming for his face, and he jumps back.

"You have no right to call me that."

Brown hair is replaced by icy blonde, and the warmth is extinguished. El is dead - only Edelgard is left. She's back on her feet now, axe in hand. For whatever reason, she pauses. Dimitri stops too, though he keeps his spear ready.

"I gave you every opportunity to lay down your weapon and join me, but you didn't. I will not tolerate your attempts to distract me," she spits.

Yet it was Edelgard herself trying to distract him - Dimitri doesn't understand. He doesn't get a chance to think about it before she's charging for him again. Finally, she feels something, and he can see it on her face: anger. Good. She should be angry. She should be hurting after everything she had done to Dimitri and their family. He hopes the reality burns her worse than hell.

They carry on their dance of battle, constantly avoiding each other by a fraction. Edelgard spins out of his reach, and Dimitri blocks her attacks. They're evenly matched, it seems. The sound of weaponry clanking against each other is the only thing Dimitri can hear, loud and piercing. The battlefield is empty, as it has been for what feels like a lifetime.

_ What does killing Edelgard solve? _

It avenges his family. It avenges his friends. It avenges everything he's worked so hard for.

_ Oh, but what would Patricia say, Dimitri? _

It doesn't matter; she's dead.

_ Are you doing the right thing? _

Sensing his distraction, Edelgard takes her cue. She knocks the spear from his hands and swings for his torso. Dimitri staggers as he cries out, before falling back on his rear. He touches the wound; it's deep. It reaches from his collarbone to his side in a diagonal line. He can see bone poking through as the blood leaks from the cut, faster than he can help. The world is spinning around him, and trying to sit up only tears him apart further. 

Edelgard stands above him, scowling. Just like every other dance before, he fucked up his steps. Except there would be no chastising, and there would be no smile from Edelgard.

There is nothing left in her eyes. No remorse, no sadness. She towers over him, bloodied axe at the ready. He glowers up at her, face pulled back into a snarl.

"I'm sorry, Dimitri."

_ But she isn't. Look at her, she isn't sorry. She ruined everything. She killed your father, your stepmother - and what of Dedue? She wasn't sorry when she killed him, either. Why would she be sorry now? _

Edelgard is a liar. With the last of his strength, Dimitri grabs his spear and thrusts it up into her own chest, and she lets out a quiet gurgle. He twists the spear before yanking it out of her. Edelgard falls. She lands hard on her knees, before she falls into Dimitri. She's a light weight over him, like a sack of feathers. She's so tiny; how is this the first time he's noticed? Her breath is ragged, and her hand sits on his heart. Had he any strength left, he would have pushed her away. Or so he tells himself, but her presence is comforting.

"I should have known… this is how things would end," she says with a small laugh. Or at least Dimitri thinks it's a laugh. He's not sure anymore.

"I vowed to kill you," he reminds her. His hand falls on the small of her back.

"We're the only ones left," she sighs.

They are. There are no Black Eagles to save her, and no Blue Lions to come for Dimitri. This is all that remains on the death-stained field, two people fading away into nothing. Dimitri could laugh. He's spent so many years as nothing, it feels fitting that he dies as such. He does not forgive Edelgard, the Flame Emperor, the one who took everything from him. But he still cares for El, the girl who once lit up his world.

Despite the smell of death on her skin, Edelgard still faintly smells like she used to - like familiarity and home. She smells like a past he still yearns for, and a future he can never have. She feels like a lost love, the kind he hoped he could have rekindled at the academy. What a fool he'd been all this time. He grabs a strand of her ashen hair, half expecting it to turn to brown in his hand. It doesn't. He twirls the stray strand on his finger, frowning. If this is the end, then he may as well say it.

"I loved you once," he says.

Edelgard scoffs weakly. What else can either of them do, even if they wanted to? She doesn't move - she can't move. They are stained with blood, and he's not sure whose blood he's more covered in. It doesn't matter anymore, nothing really does. The sun is rising, casting an orange glow around them like cinders.

"No, I don't believe you ever did," she says.

For the first time in a long time, everything is quiet. Edelgard's breathing is slowing, slowing before she takes her last breath. And Dimitri is left there with her over him, hand in her hair, as he lets his eyes fall closed.

**Author's Note:**

> H- happy V-day... :'D I think? I have no idea how IC this is because I haven't finished the lions route; most of my knowledge is just gleaned from other Dimigard fics. Haha... Anyway boy I needed some catharsis so I just swung wildly and hoped for the best. Pls lemme know what you think!
> 
> Bug me on [Tumblr](http://vehicroids.tumblr.com) || [Twitter](https://twitter.com/vehicroids)


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